As many as 70K applications received since April 1

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has got an overwhelming response to its newly launched West Bengal Bhabishyat Credit Card Scheme (WBBCCS) having already received 70,000 applications since its inception on April 1.

The state government is also working on formulating a new ‘start-up policy’ for supporting innovations.

“We have signed an MoU with Credit Guarantee Trust Fund for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) through which the latter has committed to providing credit guarantee coverage to the extent of 85 per cent under WBBCCS. The balance of 15 per cent is guaranteed by the state government. A couple of banks have already come on board. We have received 70,000 applications and around 13,000 have already been provisioned by the banks. So, we are hopeful to achieve our target of reaching out to 2 lakh MSMEs by the end of the ongoing financial year,“ Rajesh Pandey, Principal Secretary of state MSME & Textiles department said while addressing a conclave organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry to commemorate the occasion of World MSME Day.

Applications in connection with the scheme were received in the last edition of Duare Sarkar which started on April 1 and continued for about a month.

Under the WBBCCS, eligible applicants can take a business loan of up to Rs 5 lakh to start a business. Seed money of up to Rs 25,000 will be provided by the government. The scheme was announced by the state government in the state Budget for the 2023-24 fiscal. The target of coverage is 2 lakh youth per year.

Bengal has achieved over Rs 1,20,000 crore in credit lending from banks to the MSMEs in the 2022-23 fiscal. The target to be fixed this year is expected to be Rs 1,40,000 crore. Credit lending to the MSME sector in Bengal assumes significance with access to finance being a major challenge to the MSME sector. Two months back Niti Aayog had mentioned that the credit gap to MSME has been to the tune of Rs 24 lakh crore.

“We are coming up with a new start-up policy for encouraging innovations. Discussions are being held with different stakeholders that include STEP (Science and Technology Entrepreneurs’ Park) of IIT Kharagpur, Jadavpur University, IIM Kolkata and state government departments like Information Technology, Finance etc for developing such a policy,“ Pandey said.

The state government had a start-up policy (2013-2018) but it needs to be amended with time.